Welcome to Mormons Can Swim! Thank you for viewing Andrew and I's story. In this fanfic I'd like to note that Emmett isn't as adventurous as he is in the game. He's a tad more anxious about breaking rules, so if it seems a little OOC (for story purposes), that's why. The setting is in the spring, not long before the expo, and it's highly encouraged you finish the game (and the movies!) to be able to catch all the references. You don't, however, need to know anything about the Mormon religion! All of the rules and rituals will be explained in the story. Anyway, have fun reading and please leave a review. Thanks!
Emmett Brown couldn't even fathom what he was hearing. As Marty had him nearly cornered against the walls of the outside brick building of his well kept public school, demanding that he allowed some adventure in his life, Emmett told himself that this would all blow over soon. That Marty, previously known to him as Michael Corleone, would eventually just give up his desire to break into his school and swim. Why swim, some may ask. Well, for normal people swimming was a fun activity for the friends and family to enjoy. But, for Mormon's, it was strictly taboo and so was breaking the law. In nineteen-thirty-one, you could be put in jail for nearly anything, cops in Hill Valley bored with the taste of justice lingering.
Trying to plead with him, Emmett nervously whined, "Marty, please, you know I don't even know how to swim! I can't even do it if I wanted to! And I don't! Pop raised me right for eighteen years. Though we have a difference in opinion when it comes to scientific matters, we both are very strict about our religion! It's not to be bent or-or messed with! Poked at! Please, Marty, he could find out."
Emmett gave the best puppy eyed look he could muster. Marty was stronger, more manipulative, and was known for playing with his emotions. How could a boy nearly two years younger than him and less intelligent do that? He was sure there had to be some science behind it, for science was an explanation of all things incomprehensible (women, for example), but still in his mind he couldn't come up with an equation that would tell him why Marty had the upper hand on him through the most craziest requests. Though, yes, he had often found himself question religion because of the scientific and logical aspect of somehow convincing yourself that there is a higher being that rules above, he tried not to let the thoughts plague him in fear that somehow his father could see the ideas across his face and give him a thrashing just for questioning the idea of the religion.
Marty, hands leaning against the rough brick, stared straight into his friend's eyes. His own were squinted a little in suspicion. It was almost unheard of to him that anyone, even someone as religious as a dedicated Mormon, could disdain or disapprove of something as normal as swimming. "Jesus Christ, you gotta be joking. You'll go outta your way, behind your father's very own back just to practice science, but won't even take off your shirt for a little dip in some water. H2O, Emmett. It really ain't a big thing. I understand you wanna be all up to code with your views, but you gotta admit, some of it's a little wild and bogus. You've already done so much that'd be considered wrong, between sneaking out and hanging out with a degenerate. You might as well do s'more bad again and have fun."
He smiled at Emmett, knowing that the teenager was already feeling uneasy. Marty didn't want to intimidate him or make him feel uncomfortable, but to Marty, testing boundaries was an important part of maturing and having a good time. So far, it seemed like the worse thing Emmett had ever done in his life was accidentally take a pencil from his teacher in middle school, which according to the taller teenager, he had returned in the next day in a blubbering mess.
Emmett had to avoid his gaze, feeling his attitude wanting to shift into a positive and bright, daring confidence that he didn't have, but liked to create the illusion of. His hands growing shaky, head light, he gave a single nod. He lowered his head slightly at the realization of what he was doing when he straightened his posture for the walk into the nice, some-what upkept building.
His own thoughts starting to play tricks on him, self doubt already kicking in, "H-How do I know that isn't another lie? You told me you were from the patent office, lie, you told me you're name was Michael, another lie . . . How do I know you're not somebody my father hired t-to test my faith an-and obedience!"
Even to Emmett, this sounded farfetched and rightly so. But, he was so anxious that his father was waiting around the corner to bust him and make his life hell, that anything at this point made an ounce of sense. He felt like a bad person for suggesting his one true friend was anything but honest.
Instead of taking offense to the outrageous claim, Marty grinned at Emmett and took the aspiring scientist's hand into his own. He briefly took note of how long the boy's fingers were, and how clammy they felt against his own skin. Marty began to drag Emmett behind him and laughed, "I'll prove to you just how not-a-Mormon-spy I am, you watch. C'mon, Em."
Marty didn't couldn't distinguish if Emmett was okay with being taken into the school at this point. He knew for a fact that Emmett would eventually give in if persisted long enough and that, in Marty's opinion, it'd be good for him to break some make-believe laws enforced in a book older than either of them multiplied by twenty. With his free arm, he pushed the front doors open and stumbled into the silent and unlit school hallways.
His eyes lit up with familiarity at the broad hallways in front of him when the bulky doors creaked open, with the rusty whine bouncing off the school walls after. He noticed that the tiling was less cracked than he remembered it being in his own present day and that the walls weren't covered in chipping paint. This was the same school that he went to, except much newer and smaller than what his memory told him.
"Oh wow, this place, it's really-" He stopped himself mid sentence while the words 'Emmett doesn't know you're from the future! Abort!' blared through his head like a ear-shattering fire alarm going off during lunch, specifically the one he had denied pulling. With a nervous laugh that he tried to play off, he continued, "-it's real big, huh? How'd you get through this maze? Blind guessing?"
Emmett, with a small chuckle, gave a shrug as if it was a typical task to remember such a large layout. "I've gone to this school since Kindergarten," he answered with a smile on his dotted freckled face at the easy question.
The eighties boy glanced around the dully painted walls, earth tones with a touch of chipping paint sealed one another. The school's lights were off, the tan tile on the floor clean with occasion smudges of heel marks. Each classroom they passed in between the faded turquoise lockers, when eyes peered in, seemed as if they were so clean that they had never been occupied. How much money did this school have to hire a professional cleaning crew?
The soles of his white Nike shoes squeaked against the slick, shined tiles that were laid out all throughout the wide hallways. Brightly colored posters adorning boldfaced letters caught his eye, but what really grabbed the young man's attention was the hanging sign that read "GYM" above a push-open double door. "I think we found our destination, Em."
Emmett watched the door for a few seconds, swallowing what confidence he had worked up to send back to wherever the emotion had came from. He adjusted his green bow tie and pushed open the double doors widely, striding in with his back hunched over in the unhealthy position he often laid his spine. With a small frown sinking into his lips, he saw the heated pool with lights on the bottom on the pit shimmering the warm waves that glided in harmony atop the pool room was large, empty, and full of their movements as it echoed off the walls. The room was made of mostly concrete with an occasional tanning chair sprawled out a distance from the other. Emmett glanced to the exit, shaking his head as his General Anxiety filled the quiet noise in his mind. "Marty, what if we go see a movie or something? You said it yourself, Frankenstein was phenomenal. We could go see it again- Oh, er, but, it can't be an R-rated movie if you aren't feeling the monster flick tonight. Highly rated movies are also against the Mormon rules."
He gave an anxious chuckle, touching his two index fingers to each other as he perspired with the heat of the pool circulating around the room and the gnawing feeling that Marty McFly wouldn't be in for anything other than his original plans. Emmett was a ball on nervous chuckles and sideways glances to begin with, but being out past curfew and with a denying (but obvious) slacker? His father wouldn't even give him the chance to make a case for himself before he pounded his wooden gavel onto the top of Emmett's head. To make matters worse, Emmett found himself wanting to get in the pool and relax if the torment of his father didn't linger in his mind. The words in his mind that formed in quick pace sentences to remind him of the bad deed he would, in theory, like to commit was insulting to his own will power and the faith he had to his religion.
Marty rolled his eyes at the suggestion of leaving the warm room and made his way closer to the pool. He casually unbuttoned his jacket as he announced to Emmett, "I can't pass up a beauty like this. The water is callin' to me, Emmett. It's nearly begging for me to disrupt its nice pool party with some cannonball action."
He stood near the edge of the pool as he finished getting out of his thin white "Duran Duran" band shirt after his blue jean jacket was torn away first. His chest bare, dropped all articles of his upper half to the dry cement next to his covered feet. His eyes flickered to the taller of the two as he began to undo his leather belt with hesitation, fingers working with ease to help get the pair into the pool faster. If there was one thing Marty hated more than a kiss on the cheek from his mother, it was having to undress in front of people. Taking off the upper restraints of his clothing were perfectly fine, but when it came down to his lower? It used to turn into brawls with his parents when he was even a toddler when it was time for a nightly bath. No, nothing bad had happened to Marty to make him not want to get undressed, but he had grown into a being of privacy. It was something he liked to control, being able to refuse to undress being just another thing that was his choice. Not only a choice of control, but dignity. What if someone had saw him naked and laughed? He wasn't sure he could handle that kind of rejection.
When his thoughts left his mind with the voice of his own mentality interrupting, "Emmett's not moving," Marty blinked to see the boy he had been staring at without meaning, his eyes having fallen upon him while his mind formed the distant memories. Snickering, eyes squinted due to the smile that was creeping up his lips, he asked the nervous teen who stared at the water top from several feet away from the edge, "What are you standing there for? Jesus, c'mon already! Take off the dorky exterior and have some fun for once in your complicated life."
With another deep breath that didn't bring back and confidence, Emmett began to remove his multi-colored blue vest after expelling off his lime green bowtie that had been hugging his slim neck. He took off his vest after heavy precaution and then unbuttoned his white collar long sleeved shirt. Underneath of his white shirt was something of a one piece underwear, one might call it. It was scratchy cotton that was tight against his body. Another unfortunate Mormon rule that he had to wear. It was supposed to protect the user from harm by evil spirits, and with that, Emmett muttered aloud, "I guess it's not working right."
He turned his body away from Marty and slipped off his belt and brown slacks with a small, nervous chuckle. He was in his one piece underwear, feeling . . . odd. Why did he feel so odd? Was it the adrenaline rush off breaking all of his moral codes or being the most naked in front of a person than he had ever been in all of his years? He mumbled a prayer to himself, back turned to Marty.
Marty kicked off his dirtied white sneakers and let his jeans drop to the cemented floor before stepping out of the pool of denim around his ankles. The brunet was fully naked, except for his boxer briefs. When he turned around and saw Emmett dressed almost head to toe, even with his vest and everything off, he felt his jaw drop a small amount. Marty no longer felt as anxious as he had for being exposed when he in took the sight of the taller. He felt his face twist into a scowl and he asked, with not much love in his voice, "Jesus Christ. What . . . are you wearing?"
Cheeks pink, the seventeen year old scientist didn't turn around to see him, hugging himself with his arms crossed around his chest in protection of his ego. "I-I'm Mormon! I told you. The Bible says we must wear protective clothing. My, um, undergarments are sacred. They ward off bad spirits, but I don't think it's working because I got talked into this downward spiral of insanity!"
He kept staring away from Marty, embarrassed, shy, and confused. Did Marty know nothing about one of the most popular religions? Emmett commented, continuing on, "I've never swam, had meat, had coffee or tea, seen an R-Rated movie . . . Th-This is just the tip of the iceberg. If I do this, I might as well stomp on the American flag, burn my Bible, and devote my life to sin! Maybe even ask Tannen for a humble application for his gang!"
The shorter boy walked to a pouting Emmett with his arms crossed over his chest, twinning the other. "No coffee, no burgers, no swimming . . .God damn, how do you live? Look, I'm sorry to say this, but you letting some book control your life made it dull. We're gonna change that - tonight. Since you don't know how to swim yet, we'll just hang out in the five feet area. If you like it enough, maybe I can even teach you how to swim soon."
He gestured towards the crystal clear waters that illuminated the dark room. "You first, buddy. I'll be right behind you."
Emmett walked to the very edge of the five feet pool area, his head tilting as he stared at the water. He'd only had shallow baths before and thankfully that was allowed. His tall body leaned over the large pool as he knees trembled from the possibility of him getting caught, even though his new friend told him that that was impossible and that he wasn't a spy. Marty, like Emmett had recalled earlier, had lied to him and still wasn't as truthful as he had wanted him to be. Marty wouldn't tell Emmett where he came from, what he did with his rocket drill, or why he had shown up out of nowhere after disappearing to help him get his wonderful companion, Einstein, down from the roof. Still . . .
Emmett started verbally doing an equation. "What is the possibility that he's working for my father? Put the seven over the two, divide by the fifth denominator . . ."
He was starting to drone on like he did, equations making him feel safe and more closer to his more practical self. Lord, if his dear departed mother could see him now. She was never nearly as strict as Emmett's father. She wanted her only son to grow up with his own choice of religion and hobbies. But, that had all faded when she herself no longer walked the Earth.
Marty sighed impatiently while he watched Emmett stare at the water and get lost in a sea of anxiety and unneeded worries. He took a few steps to the side and then backwards, aligning himself behind the lanky Mormon teenager. "Emmett, I know I've pushed a lot of boundaries today, but PLEASE don't hate me for this. Alright? One more push."
He took a deep breath, his cheeks puffing out as he eyed the back of Emmett's undergarments. He didn't let himself think about his actions, he just went for it, actions that he had grown accustomed to doing that his Doc had warned him about. Marty's feet scraped against the small bumps of the cement underneath him as he ran to Emmet with the palms of his hands forwards between what little space they had between them. In all but a second, his hands connected to his unfortunate friend and forced him to fall into the shimmering pool, causing waves of water to jolt out from their peaceful position at the surface.
Right after making his friend splash waves, he quickly jumped in too, holding the arches of his semi-calloused feet in a poor attempt to do a cannonball.
Emmett instantly let out yell as he was thrown into the water. Though he was almost an entire foot taller than the shimmering surface, he screeched like a banshee and splashed around, slipping under the water as he struggled. Everytime he would try to stand, his instincts that kept having him splash in fear would slip his feet from the bottom of the ground. "Marty!"
He called for Marty to help. Though in reality he knew the chances of him drowning were unlikely, the way he couldn't get a foothold and the intake of water his lungs were experiencing were enough evidence for him that he may, in fact, die. While he was trying to find a solution to this dire situation, his foot, with a lot of force behind it, kicked something very hard. He winced at the pain as he continued to try and find a good balance with the under of the pool and the waves that moved his skinny body in rotation with no resistance, looking down in the water that he kept slipping beneath to see what he had hit. He was in the middle of the pool, no where near the sides, and yet he had came into contact with something next to him.
Marty, all the way at the bottom of the pool, yelled in pain when the heel of Emmett's foot connected harshly to his cheek, and as a result he had water instantly fill up his mouth which created a muffled noise. In a panic, he shut his lips and kicked himself up to the surface desperately. He quickly spat out the chemically treated water and coughed hard, then cursed in frustration a little too loudly, "Shit, just-"
He huffed as he tried to collect his breath and his thoughts. Shaking his head, he walked to his friend through the slick water and grabbed his arm. "Just stand, okay? Stay still. You're just making yourself more trouble."
Emmett breathed heavily as his tight chest burned with the chlorine mixed into the pool. His eyes stung, his foot throbbed, and his moral compass now was practically non-existent in his mind. He felt Marty hold his arm, which would have been reassuring in any other situation except this one. By now, it was useless. He stood the best he could, shifting most of his weight onto Marty's hold of him. When he finally regained composure, he was a few inches from the water as his white undergarments puffed with water. "Ah, thank you. My body isn't used to be surrounded by water. My thoughts had concluded that in a scenario such as this, I could stand up, but judging by the way I was slipping under the element and the way my head was dunking, I hadn't time to figure the possibility of the water being less volume than my height. I had started to try and get the sense of how they hit against the walls, but with the tide effect, thanks to your small bundle splash and my push, it was impossible. I could have measured the waves and how high in a normal circumstance they could hit with the velocity of the waves and how concrete reacts to force, but- "
He was a bit embarrassed about his panicked attitude that he had took on so quickly, droning on to help recover what dignity he had left. He cleared his throat as if nothing had happened once his quick sentences finished, shifting his hands down under the water to try and get his protective one piece to stick to his body. He saw the way that the water filled the empty pockets of what was once air with water, whispering to himself, "Lord help me, I'm practically indecent!"
Marty, with the weight of Emmett leaning against him, had his chin just barely over the water. Marty let go of Emmett and swam only a foot or so away to give him some space to adjust to the different sensation. His arms grazed through the liquid as he watched the other boy's face turn from shock to the typical unreadable expression. "Are you okay now? Jesus, I didn't mean to throw you off that bad. Uh . . . Here. "
He shifted through the soft splashes of the water that made soothing sounds of impact against the walls, standing in front of Emmett. He reached his free hand out to grip Emmett's thin right arm and held the man in place. "Walk with me. Get used to it. There's nothing to be scared of, I promise you, Doc."
He very slowly took small steps back in an attempt to get Emmett to follow. He truly felt awful for making his friend so uncomfortable, and wanted to make this worth all the work it took to lead up to this point. He refused to leave until Emmett relaxed and had a good time.
Emmett walked with overly small steps, almost completely shuffling across the floor with his arms hugging his chest. He stared down at his reflection in the water, his eyebrows contracting together, stopping in his tracks when he did so. "Doc? Who?"
His previous nicely combed hair that had expensive gel in it was now moppy and in his face, the ginger strands against his forehead and brisking the top of his cheekbones. He had to admit, he did look dorky like Marty had pointed out. He always had tried to tell himself he was at least somewhat good looking and, well, attractive, but seeing his reflection with his skeleton statue and unflattering appearance, it was hard to argue with the evidence staring him back.
The fingers that were loosely around Emmett's slim upper arm tensed at the small, innocent question and he swallowed hard while his chewed up nails dug into the pale skin. He felt overly nervous about something so insignificant, but, he knew that was ridiculous. He quickly let whatever answer that came to his head be spit out of his mouth. "He's, uh, a friend. You guys both look so alike. I can be a bit of an dipshit at times, sorry."
He lifted his head and took another small step forward, frowning when he met the eyes that watched him. He gave out a small gasp when he saw Marty's right cheek bright red and starting to bruise in the slightest. He reached out his left arm that Marty had not got ahold of and barely touched his cheek with the back of his hand, asking with deep concern, "Michae- I mean, Marty, what happened to your cheek?"
Marty's water-slicked hand pushed the other's much larger, yet bonier hand away from his purpling cheek. He chuckled a little at the concern, "It's, ah - I don't know. I think you kicked the shit outta me when you were freakin' about being a foot taller than the water. If it helps you feel any better, you got a hell of a kick. You could knock the lights outta some sucker any day with that kind of strength."
He grinned a little at Emmett, still slowly and casually walking backwards with him to get him used to the water. The left side of his lips twitched up as he stated, "I once nearly fought a kid at school and he kicked me in the groin - it almost hurt as badly as that. Use your powers wisely."
Emmett, at first, was frowning. "I-I didn't mean to kick you. I'm really sorry."
He took a step forward into the water, following the outgoing teenager as he thought about the words that had been projected. He snorted and added to his own words, "Actually, I used to play Football. I was called, 'The Streak'. I can run fast due to the way my body cuts through the wind and I can kick a small enough object several feet because of the force I put behind my body. Now, if I was your size? No, probably not. You're small and built like a, uh, well, small person. You don't have any muscles, but you aren't out of shape. You are in the stage of being molded into a physical app'd person, if you had chose so."
Walked closer to Marty, his pace now getting faster without realizing it as the topic was now off of him drowning and more of the intelligent conversations he willed often to have. He was already adjusted to the water, his mind not on the situation, but more the conversation. His body had become used to the pool, allowing his legs to walk in long strides thanks to his lanky body. He threw his arms up in the air, turning down to his reflection to laugh at himself and comment to the face staring back up at him through the water. "Not to be harsh and say anything that would be, er, offensive. Facts are general facts. I am not a bodybuilder, either, clearly."
Marty scoffed at the lanky, dweebish man giving him lectures about body image and size. Turning up his nose, he stared Emmett straight in the boy's wide hazel eyes and began to defend himself in a playful way. "I've got some pack to my punch. I've scraped with plenty of airheads and lemme tell ya, being tiny ain't a disadvantage. Football might not be my forte, but that's not the only thing where physique matters."
Emmett chuckled softly at the tone of the other, liking the turn of the conversation. After a few moments of him giving a small laugh at the defensive words, his laugh died into a silence. Marty didn't comment, waiting to see what made Emmett pause the joyful banter. The young scientist shook his head and gripped his hair, his back hunching as he faced away in a sudden movement as if something awful had happened. The words, not very articulate of his distress, came out in a rush. "Something's not right. Something's very, very wrong here."
Not giving a chance for Marty to respond, he turned his head and added some much needed light of clearance. Emmett let go of his odd colored hair and splashed his arms down subtly into the ripples. "See, when you grab my arm, it feels like I've known you for years when we've only known each other for a few months. I mean, you showed up and we bonded slightly over science and how I would be an amazing inventor- the holder of a Washington patent! Then, you leave. You leave for several months, come back, and then ask to go see a movie with me? I-I had assumed that our separation and sabbatical from science would have made things worse! I was still hurt that you lied to me with no explanation, still haven't explained, but I had let you take the rocket drill anyway because I, well, trusted you. You show up and touch me and it's like you're a childhood friend or-or some type of close companion. I did some research on the emotions and it's nothing I experienced before. If you could enlighten me why I feel so strange, that would be better than seeing Frankenstein."
The entire time Emmett had talked, he had been pacing around the pool as if he was pacing through the creaking floorboards of his basement. It was a bad habit that he had grown used to, ever so often having through in a hand gesture as his confused expression not rested. He hadn't once got a glimpse of Marty, too focused on solving this troubling puzzle. It wouldn't have been much of a problem if it didn't concern his own feelings, the mere idea of he not being in control of his emotional state driving him up the metaphorical wall.
Marty glanced away and let his prominent grey-blue eyes focus on the textured bumps that the eggshell white paint created on the walls. He let his shoulders deflate as he thought of a proper way to respond to such a probing ramble. In what world did someone who was barely a stranger feeling like a close friend be plausible outside of a cheesy chick flick? Hell, even in the context that he knew the freckled-faced boy in the far future, it barely made a lick of sense to him. "Well, I . . . That's pretty heavy, Emmett. I'm not too sure. Maybe we just got that certain . . . chemistry with our personalities or somethin'. Opposites attract, right?"
The short boy flashed Emmett an award winning, yet somehow dorky and small grin at his friend. Hopefully, the idea that they were meant to be platonically inclined would ease his worries about what was happening now and whatever would happen in the future - even if it's just a little. Tonight was about fun and making his anxious friend relax for one night.
Smirking to himself, he slowly began to paddle towards Emmett. His hands swiftly guided themselves through the water, and when he was behind Emmett, he used his arms to push as massive of a wave as he could make to Emmett with a yell. "Take this!"
Emmett turned to see what Marty wanted, only to be greeted with the stinging chemicals of the water against his eyes. "Ah!"
He coughed a little and rubbed his red eyes, trying to relax as the intention of the trip was. He asked, blinking a few times to see, "Your velocity of the force of the impact building up the the crash of the wave could use some work, stubby arms."
He reciprocated the splash, but with more power behind his arm movement, drenching Marty in the warm wave that rode along the surface of the pool. Emmett's eyebrows relaxed with a small laugh coming from him. It wasn't a nervous laugh. It wasn't a laugh of frustration. It was a true, pure, happy laugh.
Marty yelled loudly as water rained over him and dripped into his eyes, He chuckled a little, trying to wipe the stinging water away, "That's the best I got. Unless- hm."
His lips broke out into a dorky grin, and he lifted his legs up and began to make himself float. "Shit, boy, you're in for it now. And um, close your eyes. Please."
Without skipping a beat, he harshly kicked his feet around in the water, forcing massive amounts of water directly to Emmett. "Is this enough force now?!"
Emmett laughed loudly as his body, with not enough weight to keep him down, was jerked around in the center of all the waves. He allowed the flow to carry him a few feet away, grinning wider than he had the entire time that him and Marty had been together. As he tried to catch his breath, holding his stomach from laughing over the horseplay, he lifted one hand to float on the surface of the water. With an imaginative smile, he whispered, "I wish I could sleep on this water. Lay on it and relax."
He'd never thought to use his own density to raise himself above the surface and float. Yes, he'd done it before with water experiments in the glass fish tank in his lab, but he'd never had the thought to apply it to himself. He had never been living before today. He'd just been existing.
With his head positioning up to see Marty, he gave a warm smile that could heat up even the coldest of winter nights. " . . . Marty, uh- I've got something to say, i-if you don't mind."
Marty felt his heart beat a little faster at the smile. He hadn't seen such a genuine look on anyone in ages, and the way Emmett wore his expression made him feel truly comfortable. He did his best to return the smile as he swam to get closer to Emmett. He made his way to the wall next to Emmett and hung onto it before connecting his deep brown eyes to his friend's lighter ones. "Go for it."
The older teenager cleared his throat, as if preparing to make a bold statement that had been rehearsed. Instead, his words came directly from his heart, as if he had made an invention for it. He shyly shifted his eyes to his own reflection in the water, his smile unable to fade. "You showed up into my life out of nowhere, really. You appeared and I thought you'd be nothing but trouble for me."
Before he continued, he laughed out loud as his choice of words, looking up at Marty and blurting out, "I guess I was right, huh?"
Shaking his head at his own joke, grin still plastered on his freckled face, he continued. "When we met, I thought that you were nothing but trouble. And then, you showed me my potential. My meaning. I was no longer a loser scientist that failed every experiment. You . . . You gave me friendship. Hope."
He threw out his arms in his routine gesture, walking on the floor bottom of the pool in a circle and directing his loving gaze to the ceiling. "This, Marty, you gave me this! A-A night out! A night that I'm not killing myself over inventions that will never leave my basement. You showed me that I'll at least even if I fail, fail, and fail again, at least you can get some use out of my otherwise useless inventions. The rocket drill, for example. I hadn't the desire to finish it because of the overwhelming weight of the entire thing blowing up. You, and you alone, gave me the right mindset and stride to keep going."
He felt his chest tighten like it did when he was drowning. Except, this time, he was getting choked up. He turned his eyes away from Marty, who decided not to share that the rocket actually had blown up, as misty eyes appeared. His loud, happy voice now dulled to a soft hush. He didn't want to get too personal, but it was Marty's right to know. He could confide in his friend.
"When my mother passed, God rest her soul, the light of inspiration went out. My mother had such a calming presence, such an amazing talent for helping me keep going even in my darkest days. She was my main source of inspiration and hope. And when she . . . "
He shook his head, biting his lower lip as a tear slipped down his already wet cheeks, thanks to the pool. His voice now hoarse as he tried everything in his power not to cry. He hadn't talked about his mother in years, his father grieved alone and wouldn't allow him to bring it up. He had never truly processed it, but instead pushed the reality out of his mind and made a barrier to block out any memories that his mother had been involved with. If it wasn't for his attempts to not drip with tears, he would have made note that he had felt comfortable enough with Marty to share this part of him. Something that hadn't happen with anyone else. He really did feel like he had known Marty for years upon years, everything coming natural by now.
All he could muster up saying with his shaky voice was, "Besides the matter, Marty, I'm glad you're here."
Marty sat still in the water with one arm out of the pool and resting on the floor surrounding it. He had his head leaning against the edge of the pool while he soaked up each and every word Emmett rambled out. He slowly let his arm move back and forth through the water, causing a small ripple effect as he carefully chose how to reply. He was never too great at being the mushy type, but for Emmett, he'd try his best to return the favor. "I think you've already did something great, just by being yourself and being here, honestly. You walk through life with your head high, sticking to what you love and what you believe in even if your dad thinks it's bogus or if others think it's strange, y'know? Most people can't say that at all. I admire that a lot about you. You work so damn hard all the time - and you're a teenager! Seventeen! All the seventeen year olds I know can barely pick up a pencil and spell their name. If your mom was still here, she'd be as proud as ever. I know I would be. Emmett, you're an amazing guy. One of a kind."
Letting the conversation flow gently like any perfected orchestra of vocals, Emmett waited for Marty to finish. Once it was his turn to speak, he sniffled and wiped away the tears that had still stayed before their destiny to drip into the water and dissolve. He wanted to hug Marty tightly, though he usually despised contact, and tell Marty just how powerful the words impacted him. How through all of this confusion and abandonment, he was still a little boy who had feelings, not just scientific thoughts. Though, as he watched himself in the reflection of a world untouched, he was more than positive Marty knew he was more complex than a human inventing machine.
Emmett cleared his throat and decided to leave the words to their own doing. He changed the subject as he yawned, rubbing his eyes to clear any trace of tears and to show he was growing exhausted from the unexpected sport of swimming. "I, uh, am getting a sleep deprived. I was up late last night working on, um, my flying car. I don't mean to rush you, even though if you asked me ten minutes ago I would be in a hurry out of here, but I think the safest option would be for me to return to my house and sleep. I wouldn't want to drown or have you try and carry me out of the water, as funny as that may be."
Marty nodded at the request and swam his way through the water to the stairs of the pool. He started to climb his way out of the pool as he responded, "Knowing me and my stubby arms, that wouldn't happen, huh?"
Once his bare feet were planted on the cement below him, the soaking wet teenager stretched out his arms. While his back arched mid-stretch, his stomach let out a noise that was almost akin to a predator growling at prey. He mumbled to himself, lowering his hands to pat where he wish he had abs, "Jesus, guess someone's hungry, huh?"
Marty cleared his throat and stalked his way to the puddle of clothes he left behind. He asked loud enough so his friend could hear him from the warm waters, "You wanting to get a bite after this or just split?"
Emmett hopped out of the pool, smiling at the odd vocabulary of Marty. 'Split'? Weird. He left the water to make hissing sounds as the drips made contact with the dry ground. "Uh, sure, I don't mind. I can pay for both of ours, if you want, though considering that I just risked my entire faith for some water to be splashed on me, I think you should, in turn, get the bill."
Emmett yawned again as he sat on the edge and let himself naturally dry off for a few moments, adding, "Though I'm not sure if I'll make it to wherever we travel to, at this rate. I'm very tired."
Marty, before getting dressed at all himself, decided to toss Emmett his clothing. He picked up his jeans off the ground and fought with the denim so he could slip them over his hips and zip them up. "We'll split the bill. It's cool. Say, what kinda place would be open at this place? Like . . . maybe a diner? I'd kill for some eggs right now."
He licked his thin lips at the idea of a hot, sizzling plate of crisp bacon and golden eggs being served in front of him. It'd been a good while since he had sat down and ate a well-prepared meal in peace.